Charlotte Man Is Sentenced To 11 Years In Prison For Receipt Of Child Pornography

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – U.S. District Judge Robert J. Conrad sentenced a local man to 11 years in prison today for receipt of child pornography, announced Dena J. King, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. Luis Ramirez Avila, 23, was also ordered to serve 30 years under court supervision, to register as a sex offender after he is released from prison, and to pay $15,300 in assessments.

Robert M. DeWitt, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Charlotte Division, and Chief Johnny Jennings of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department join U.S. Attorney King in making today’s announcement.

According to filed court documents and today’s sentencing hearing, in 2019, the FBI began an investigation that later identified that Avila had used the internet to receive and share child pornography. The FBI located Avila in Charlotte, and Avila agreed to talk to law enforcement. Court records show that Avila admitted that he used messaging applications like Snapchat and other online platforms to view, share, and receive child pornography. Avila also told law enforcement that he used Snapchat to find and communicate with minors. The investigation revealed that Avila convinced, and sometimes paid, minor victims to make sexually explicit videos of themselves and send the videos to Avila.

On November 29, 2022, Avila pleaded guilty to three counts of receipt of child pornography. He is currently in federal custody and he will be transferred to the custody of the federal Bureau of Prisons upon designation of a federal facility. 

In making today’s announcement, U.S. Attorney King thanked the FBI and CMPD for their investigation of this case.

The prosecution for the government was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimlani Ford of U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte.    

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.